A parade of spaceships...

Okay, this project is being temporarily suspended because it's dawned on me that the reference illustrations I'm working off of are not looking the way the should. What I mean is that shapes and proportions on the drawings are not consistent with screencaps of the actual fullsize or miniature filming models. It's possible the conical tail section isn't quite as long as it should be and the large tailfines are not the right shape. Screencap images make it look very much like the tailfins do not have the angle shown in the reference drawings and that they should be closer to parallel with the ships longitudinal centreline. The ship also looks to sit a bit closer to the ground (when landed) then it appears in the drawings. Also the ray cannon in the drawings is lacking detail that is clearly evident onscreen.

What this means is that I'm going to get a good side elevation image of the onscreen models and make some quick drawings off of those and compare them with the present reference drawings. Until that's done I'm suspending taking this model further.
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Okay, that didn't take too long. And my problems are relatively easy to fix. The reference drawings from The Spaceship Handbook are indeed off. The tail section aft of the midship collar of rocket tubes should be about 18.2 percent longer---easy enough to fix by stretching the tail section out. Also, as I suspected, the tailfins are more raked in angle than shown on TSH drawings. The outside edge isn't quite parallel to the ship's centreline, but it's close. And finally from what I can discern the landing wheels are indeed mounted a bit higher on the craft to allow it to sit closer to the ground when landed.

^^ First I created the outline of the fins. Then I created the shape of the edge and used the Follow Me tool to extrude along the outline. You then have to use the Intersect tool to merge some of the conflicting surfaces after the extrusion. After intersecting you cut away the excess, connect the furthest points to each other to complete the sides then finally soften the lines to get a smooth surface.

Here I've scaled a side elevation of the ship from the book reference drawings alongside a screencap of the ship from the original film. I've scaled the drawing as close as I can to mirror the image of the ship from the photo. It isn't prefect, but it's more than enough to show that the reference drawing is definitely off. The most notable inconsistency is the length of the aft section---it's clearly far too short in the drawing. You can also see the fins are also more steeply raked on the model. Finally the shape of the forward section doesn't see quite the same as the drawings.

I certainly am curious to know what references were used to create the drawing. If he was working straight from screencaps alone it's still hard to see how he could have missed this. If by some chance he was working from archival materiel (such as original drawings) then perhaps the original design was meant to be shorter and the actual mock-up was made larger.

I would really like to see a really good large image of the ship in profile, assuming there is one somewhere amongst all the Flash Gordon serial footage. There isn't any such image in the original film.

Scanned through some episodes and while I could have missed something these are the best images I could find of the model. I'm going to try making some simple drawings to work from because I think there are some distinct inconsistencies between this model and the drawings in The Spaceship Handbook.

The top and middle images are best for (relative) clarity. The bottom image shows better detail for the ray cannon affixed to the nose. I have another close-up of the full-size mock-up which shows quite a bit of rivet detail although I'm not sure whether I'll try to include that on my 3D model.

Like the TOS shuttlecraft there are inconsistencies between the full-size exterior and the miniature filming model. That leaves some room for interpretation as to what the "actual" ship should look like.

Now we're getting somewhere even if it entails me having to start my 3D model from the beginning. From the image below you can see distinct differences between the shapes and dimensions I got off the screencaps and the reference drawing from The Spaceship Handbook. The images I used (posted upthread) were very close to dead on side elevation with little angle to the camera. That means not too much distortion in terms of length which I tried to take into account. The tail section is definitely longer and the forward section has a slightly different contour to it.

Yes it is a boulder obscuring the tail. There were different models used and modified as well as stock footage. The ray cannon wasn't there originally and then later during the serials it was added, but stock footage was obviously used as well.

Have made some significant progress here. All the major elements are in place and the shapes are looking more correct. The next items on the agenda are windows, access hatch and landing wheels.

It's amusing that the stubby wings on the front section were supposed to be retractable as originally intended in the film Just Imagine. Uh, just where are those wings supposed to go without intruding deep into the interior compartment and messing up what little usable space there is there? The craft also had extendable jacks for lift the nose up for take-off---again where are these things supposed to retract in to?

Last image before calling it a night. I got all the windows in except the small one that is part of the access hatch. I'm not going with the drawings on the door and instead I'll have just one. I think it just looks weird with two.

Uh, just where are those wings supposed to go without intruding deep into the interior compartment and messing up what little usable space there is there?

Click to expand...

Perhaps they just deflate? Or is that too high-tech for this chariot of fire?

Another possibility is that they roll in along the sides of the hull like a garage door. Rigidity in extended position could be achieved by a variety of means, although inflation with a fluid might be a fun and pseudo-1930s way to go.

Making the raygun telescope would certainly be practical and sort of trivial, and would help reconcile the footage discrepancies.

I really adore this little pup - and I sort of wonder if the utterly uselessly positioned windows aren't a conscious choice, here, and in other onscreen scifi (c.f. the TOS shuttle), to make sure that nothing compromising will ever be glimpsed through them...

You know I don't have to squint much to see the makings of a Romulan style shuttlecraft in this design with just a bit of tweaking. The fins are a natural for stylized feather graphics similar to those seen on the TOS Romulan warship seen in "Balance Of Terror."

No pic to post today, but I am working on something a bit involved. I've made a shell of the interior which will give my windows some thickness or rather in a close up you'll be able to make out some hull thickness as seen through the windows. You really won't be able to see much, but I like to have it there. Now the interior has a deck and walls and ceiling. I might put in some simplified interior elements as well just for a sense of completion.